A Life Left Behind
by Fangirl-OP
Summary: Before the Outbreak, Annabeth Chase lived a perfectly normal life in Cincinnati. But once the virus struck, Annabeth's family was infected and she was forced to leave and live on her own. She teams up with the spunky Thalia Grace, and together they journey to a safe camp where Thalia's cousins are. Will they make it? (Zombie AU. Percabeth & Jasper. First fanfic, so please read!)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! This is my first fanfic, so NO FLAMES! I'm not here for you to vent out all your problems, so take it somewhere else. I would really appreciate constructive criticism, though, so if you see any room for improvement please let me know. Comment if you have any questions and I'll try to respond in the author's notes before each chapter. If you want to BETA this story, I would be willing to get a BETA, so that door's open. Thanks again for giving this fic a try! Hope you enjoy the story!**

 **-Petra (aka Fangirl-OP)**

Disclaimer **  
**Me **: Nico?  
** Nico **: *grunts* what?  
** Me **: the disclaimer...  
** Nico **: Oh right! *clears throat*  
** Nico **: Fangirl-OP does not-  
** Percy **: *crashes into room*  
** Percy **: *pants* I WANNA DO IT!  
** Annabeth **: *Comes in with frying pan*  
** Annabeth **: *whacks Percy with frying pan*  
** Me **: Thanks, Annabeth. There's a reason You're my favorite character.  
** Annabeth **: Awww, I love you too Petra! Just don't kill me off, okay?  
** Nico **:...  
** Nico **: Anyways, Fangirl-OP does not own PJO or HOO,-  
** Me **: Thanks, Nico! *blows kiss*  
** Nico **: *mutters* ...thankfully  
** Me **: Excuse me!?  
**

Chapter 1

 _Annabeth POV_

IF THE INFECTED DON'T KILL ME, then the isolation surely will.

It's been three days since I have seen any Infected, and only God knows how long it's been since I've seen another Survivor. But the silence is constant, like the world is trying to remind me that I'm alone. In all honesty, being alone doesn't really bother me (I was never very social), but being stuck with only my head for company is what gets to me.

 _Gee, Annabeth,_ you ask. _Are you mental? Or is your head just annoying?_

No. My head isn't annoying. Nor am I mental. It's just that if I have no Infected to fight, I get bored and I start to think.

 _Well, do you hate thinking or something?_

Uh, yeah.

 _Why?_

Because it makes me realize how fast the world is turning into a hopeless pit of hopelessness and dying people, okay? Eff off.

 _Take a chill pill, Annabeth. But whatever. Bye!_

Actually, maybe I am mental. I already know I'm ADHD. But running around in the Ohio backcountry for three months, fighting to stay alive, can you really blame me? Heck, I sleep in trees and make rabbit jerky for food! And don't say anything, because I told you to leave.

At least the forest is pretty.

Anyways, due to reasons previously stated, I hate being alone and, therefore, was actually happy when the Infected attacked me. You know, in a sick way.

The first giveaway that Infected were stalking me were the moans. You see, they act like zombies: listlessly walking around, groaning and trying to eat you alive. But the weird thing is, they aren't dead. Like, they still do the normal life processes of eating, drinking, going to the bathroom, sleeping, and even reproducing (it's absolutely disgusting). The only thing is that their food and drink is human meat and blood. But even though they're alive, they don't last long, because once the virus goes to work on their bodies, they start to rot. The brain goes first, and the flesh is next- they even look like zombies. Eventually, the person dies because the virus used them up, and it moves on to the next host.

What do they look like? Well, their skin is all purplish and greenish, and they always, always have missing teeth. And the teeth that they have are so unhealthy that they might as well just fall out. The Infected usually have crazy hair, but everybody does these days. Their nails are really long, too.

So anyways, I was just sitting on a log in the forest, musing over my life, and I hear their groans. I was like, okay. Let's dance, zombies. So I stand up and turn around, expecting two, maybe three Infected. Instead, I find this whole group of them converging on me.

In hindsight, I probably should have run, but I guess I wasn't thinking straight.

I scrambled for my backpack (my dagger was in it), but one of them grabs my shoulder and jerks me towards the group. I curse and stumble over the log I was just sitting on, landing on my stomach. I rolled over and swept my feet under their legs, knocking some of them over. This bought me enough time to stand up and grab my bow, 'cause it's closer to me than the backpack.

I swung the bow around in a wide arc, and it tore through the group. Another thing about the Infected is that even though they are fairly strong and fast (I guess the virus never gets to the muscle tissue), they have really soft skin and weak bones. I hear a satisfying crunch as the wood of my bow meets their bruised, rotten bodies. I heard this hysterical laugh from somewhere above me, and I wasted time looking for its source.

While I was peering into the trees, one of the Infected grabbed me, and its abnormally long nails raked down my bare right arm. I let out a cry of pain and gritted my teeth as one of the Infected behind me, who did not have to courtesy to die, bit into my right shoulder. I screamed.

Okay, if you've ever had someone try to eat your shoulder off, you would know what that felt like. My entire right side exploded in pain, and I managed to hit the thing on the head so that it let go of my shoulder. I gasped and fell forward onto the log. Black spots danced in my vision. I let go of the bow and it clattered onto the log next to me.

I struggled to my feet as one of the Infected I had knocked over tried to take a bite out of my right leg. Like, leave my right side alone! I grabbed my bow and swung it again, and it connected with the one that tried to eat my shoulder off. I probably would have laughed at it if I weren't in pain.

There was still one in front of me. I thrust my bow into its chest, even though I usually try to avoid stabbing Infected because it makes me feel savage (don't judge). I jerked the bow out of its body with a squelch and winced at the noise it made.

I heard that creepy laugh again and wondered if it was an Infected. Can Infected even laugh at all? I groaned and glanced around warily, half because my shoulder hurt and I was about to black out, half because I wanted to know where that laugh came from. Also, I thought there were more Infected- did I really fight off that entire swarm?

Answer: no.

There had been more behind me.

But I didn't know they were there until they began grabbing at me, pulling me down. Then one clamped its jaws around my neck and everything went black.

The last thing I thought was, _whoever was laughing, thanks a lot._

* * *

 _Thalia POV_

Blondie was so stupid, I almost laughed.

Like, _Girl! If thirteen Infected attack you all at the same time, run!_

I crouched in my tree and watched as she grabbed a bow and started swinging it around like a club. This time, I did laugh, and immediately clamped a hand over my mouth. The girl looked up in my general direction, trying to figure out where it came from. One of the zombies used her temporary distraction to rake its nails down her arm, and she cried out in pain.

Hehe. Whoops.

She hit some more of them with her bow, and would have hit more of them, but one of them reached forwards and bit into her shoulder.

Double whoops.

Blondie screamed and fell onto a log. She managed to get back on her feet and whirled around. She was breathing pretty heavily at this point. There was another one in front of her and four more behind, but I don't think she knew about the ones behind her. Blondie stabbed the one in front of her and winced, like she thought it was gross or something.

I laughed again. Really, sorry, but it was kind of funny. Blondie looked up at the trees again, and the Infected chose that moment to grab at her. She screeched and tried to stab one with her bow, but she didn't get to because one of them bit into her neck.

Triple whoops.

Her body went limp, and I think she was unconscious. I will say that she fought like the devil, though; that girl was tough. "Dammit," I muttered. I guess I have to help her now.

I grabbed my bow and nocked an arrow. I aimed towards the Infected who had bit her neck and released the arrow with a twang. It shot into the zombie's eye. "Oops," I muttered. I nocked an arrow and shot another Infected, then hopped out of my hiding place in the trees. I landed in a crouch, then stood up, grabbed the last two zombies' heads, and banged them together. I heard a crunch and they fell face-first onto the ground.

I sighed and looked around. There were bodies littered all around the forest floor. I didn't really want to hang out with them, so I grabbed my duffel bag, Blondie's backpack, and our bows. Then I dragged an unconscious Blondie along behind me, trying to find a new place to camp out.

About seven minutes and three mosquito bites later, I found a nice clearing that was free of corpses. I pulled my sleeping bag out of the duffel and rolled it out. Then I laid Blondie on it and cleaned her scratches and, ahem, bite marks, using hopefully clean water from a nearby stream.

'Nough said.

Now Blondie looked less like an almost-corpse and more like an injured-but-just-sleeping person. I sighed and prepared myself for the hard part: waiting for her to wake up.

* * *

 _Annabeth POV_

I FELT A DULL THROBBING in the base of my skull, which sucked because if I was dead and in Heaven, I wouldn't be able to feel pain. And if I wasn't dead, then I was alive (obviously). Being alive means that I would have to heal and whatnot, which I was not in the mood to do.

My whole body was sore, I had a headache, and my shoulder throbbed where the Infected had bit into it. I'll try not to complain, though, because when my mom was still alive she always told me to be tough. "Girls- especially blondes like us- are stereotyped too often," she would say. "Be so tough that people don't even get the chance to stereotype you." She told me to never complain and to always, always, give my best effort. She also told me that my gray eyes were my best assets; because they showed that I was not your typical teenaged girl- I was more than that.

But she died when I was twelve, in a car crash. That was four years ago, and I still remember that she was fighting until her last breath. And so lying there on the forest floor, half alive, I thought, maybe I should keep fighting, too.

Slowly, I cracked my eyelids just enough to see sunlight streaming down from the sky, unobstructed by trees. So I must be in a clearing or something, I thought. How did I get here? I opened my eyes all the way and squinted from the sudden light.

I groaned and sat up, then froze. Someone was laughing that same laugh I heard when I was fighting the Infected. The person was definitely female and was probably sitting about three feet behind me. Slowly, I turned around to glare at the girl behind me.

She was thin and tall and had really short, raven black hair and unsettling, electric blue eyes. Like, pixie-cut girl smirked. "Sleeping Beauty awakens, eh?"

"You have a lot to explain," I snapped through dry lips. "So you better start talking."

She shrugged. "There really isn't that much to tell. I was just sitting in a tree, minding my business, and you came along and sat on a log underneath me. Then some Infected attacked you, so when you blacked out I finished them off and dragged your unconscious butt to the spot which you now occupy."

"Why were you sitting in a tree?" I challenged. I didn't really care why she was in the tree. Heck, I sleep in trees! But I hated that I needed saving from this girl, so I guess I wanted to annoy her.

"It's safer than sitting on a log, Blondie." She began to draw in the dirt. "Shouldn't you be thankful or something? I could have left you and stolen your backpack." She swept her hand over whatever she had drawn, erasing it. "On second thought," she mused, " I probably should have."

Angry, I grabbed a pinecone and chucked it at her face. It bounced off of her forehead harmlessly, and she started laughing again. "Look," I growled. "If you call me 'Blondie' one more time, I will do something a lot worse than just throwing a pinecone at you."

"Not in your current condition, you won't." she smirked.

"What's your name?"

"That's a good question," she mused. "What _is_ my name?" She looked at me.

I narrowed my eyes. "Look, if you don't trust me, I'll go first. My name is Annabeth Chase and I'm sixteen. " I paused, waiting for a reply. None came. "Your turn," I pushed.

"Well, let's see," she tapped her chin. She was trying to anger me, and it was worked.

"Ugh!" I threw another pinecone at her and said, "If you won't tell me what you name is I-"

"What?" She smirked. "What are you gonna to me?" I grabbed yet another pinecone, and was about to throw it at her, when she said, "I know! You can just call me Pinecone face!" She exploded into laughter.

I don't know why, but that calmed me down. I couldn't help it. "Okay then, Pinecone Face. But I still want to know your real name, just for kicks."

She smiled at me. "Just because I like you, my name is Thalia Grace and I'm eighteen. But only because I like you."

I laughed and we fell into a comfortable silence. Eventually, I said, "How long was I out?"

"A day. Nothing too crazy." She laid back and stretched her legs. "So, tell me about your life."

"My life is an appallingly dreadful pile of crap," I said. Thalia snorted. "Is that what you were asking?"

"No," she said, "but I don't doubt that it's true. What I meant was, why are you alone and not in a camp?"

Camp? What was she talking about? I never heard anything about a camp. This was completely new to me, but it presented an opportunity to stop running around with nowhere to go. "What camp?" I asked her quietly.

"You know, a camp. Like, when the Outbreak first happened, some people got smart and started collecting people into isolated areas, and most of them still exist. They're safe havens for loners like us." She looked at me curiously and sat up. "You really never heard of the camps?"

"No. Is that where you're trying to go? One of the camps?"

"Yeah," she said. "There's this one in Manhattan where my idiot cousins are. That's where I'm trying to go."

"So why are you in Ohio?" I asked.

She froze. "Annabeth, this isn't Ohio. I started out in Ohio, too, because I was visiting a friend when the Outbreak happened. But I've mostly been traveling on the Interstate, and right now we're in northern New York."

I blinked. This was also new. "But-" I struggled to find the words. "How do you know?"

She chuckled. "Well, I have a compass, so I know which direction I'm going. But mostly I know because a couple of miles east, there was a sign that said 'Welcome to New York'."

"Why aren't you still on the interstate?"

She let out a dry, humorless laugh. "Annabeth, the Interstate can only take me so far. I had to leave or else it would have carried me through New York into Massachusetts. Or up into New Hampshire, depending which route I took."

"So then I just wandered into New York," I said. She nodded and shrugged. I had noticed a slight change in the types of vegetation in the forest, but I hadn't thought much of it. Actually, it was rather odd that I had stayed inside forests the entire time, too. "Um," I said abruptly. "Can I go to that camp in Manhattan with you?"

She shrugged. "Sure. We're a little far out, but together I think we can make it. You seem pretty 'school smart', and I'm pretty 'street smart', so together we have all the smarts one could need!"

"Hey!" I spluttered. "I'm 'street smart'! I've survived this long!"

Thalia laughed. "Chill, Annabeth. I was joking. From what I can tell, you're actually one of the smartest people I've met. Definitely not a dumb blonde."

"Good. Because if you'd been serious, I might have had to throw another pinecone at you." I wagged my finger at her warningly.

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" she gasped and threw her hands in the air. "Oh no! The mighty pinecone thrower has targeted me!"

We laughed. "So, Pinecone Face," I said. "Allies?"

"Uh, no." I flinched and reached for my bow, wary that she might try to take my stuff. "Psyche! Just kidding!" She laughed. "Not allies, friends."

I smiled. "Friends it is, Thalia."


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the next chapter (obviously). You'll learn a little bit more about Annabeth and Thalia's lives in this chapter, and there will be Percy POV.**

 **If you've been reading this fic since I first published, you probably noticed something fishy. Well, that's because I accidentally deleted the original story and I had to re-publish it. Never fear, though: I literally just copy and pasted off of the same Word doc I used for the original. It's exactly the same. Again, If you have any questions ask me in the comments and I'll try to answer in the author's note before each chapter.**

 **Petra**

Disclaimer:  
Me **: I want to avoid another incident like last time, so Percy can do the honors.**  
Percy **: Yippeeeee!**  
Annabeth **: Petra, he's acting like a little kid. Make him stop.**  
Me **: He's _your_ boyfriend.**  
Percy **: Be quiet! I have to do the disclaimer!**  
Percy **: *clears throat* *does voice exercises***  
Annabeth **: Gods help us.**  
Percy **: *clears throat again* We have come here to commemorate this fanfiction by-**  
Annabeth **: *grumbles***  
Annabeth **: FANGIRL-OP DOES NOT OWN PJO OT HOO!**  
Percy **: *glowers* I hate you.**  
Me **: Awww, Percabeth!**  
Annabeth **: No! Don't say 'Percabeth'!**  
Percy **: What's Percabeth? it sounds like a disease.**  
Annabeth **: *facepalm***

Chapter 2

 _Annabeth POV_

AFTER THAT FIRST DAY with Thalia, we climbed into a tree and spent the night there. We had no run-ins with Infected, which is good because Thalia would have had to fight them by herself. We actually stayed in that clearing for two nights so that I had a chance to heal, then we packed up and started towards Manhattan.

Traveling with Thalia is a lot better than just aimlessly wandering around. First, it's nice because I actually know where I'm going. Also, she keeps me distracted from my crazy brain. Remember how I hate thinking?

Well.

So we pretty much walked, or hiked, or whatever, in silence. Eventually, though, Thalia said, "You never actually told me about your life. You just said, and I quote, that your life was 'an appallingly dreadful pile of crap'."

I snorted. "That's because it is, Thalia dear."

"I'll tell you about my life if you tell me about yours."

I peered at her. "I'll tell you about my life, but not because I am tempted by your offer."

"Yay! Thanks, Annie!"

"Don't call me Annie."

"Touché. Anyways, quit stalling and start blabbing."

I sighed. "Well, I lived in Cincinnati with my dad, stepmom, and stepbrothers- their names were Bobby and Matthew. Anyways, I went to high school like normal people, had a boyfriend, whatever. It really wasn't interesting until the Outbreak."

"What happened during the Outbreak?"

"The virus came out, Thalia! But that affected everyone. During the Outbreak, nothing different happened to my family than anyone else's."

She rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Yeah, but what happened to them?"

I readjusted my backpack. Talking about my family made me uncomfortable; I'd never been close to anyone in it except my mom. "My dad was one of the first ones in the city to get the virus. Everyone in my family except me got it, so I guess I'm immune or something."

She nodded. "Yeah. I think everyone who's still alive must be immune. Like, we fight the Infected! We should have gotten sick by now, you know?"

"Yeah." We fell into a temporary silence. "Your turn." I nudged Thalia with my elbow.

She cleared her throat and cracked her knuckles. I laughed. "Well," she said. "My mom was n alcoholic model, and my brother and I were both the results of a one-night fling with some athlete or another. My brother disappeared when I was nine, and he was two. So, I lived in Manhattan with my Aunt Sally. The end."

I gawked at her. "That's terrible!"

She shrugged. "Whatever. You already know that I was in Ohio during the Outbreak, but one of my cousins was able to call me using a pay phone and told me about the camp he was in."

"So what are your cousins like?"

Thalia made a very unladylike noise that sounded like a snort. "They're both morons. Nico is one of them, and he's fifteen. Percy is seventeen. Percy's mom is the aunt that I lived with. I have more cousins, but Nico and Percy are the only ones I've heard from."

"Well, I know my family's dead."

"Obviously, Annabeth. They got the virus." She paused to look at me. "You mentioned a boyfriend?" she wiggled her eyebrows.

I laughed. "Gross, Thalia! Don't do that!"

"So you did mention a boyfriend? Was he hot?"

"Ye- no!" I spluttered. "I mean, he- I don't know! I'm not going to answer that, Thalia!"

She laughed. "What was his name? Did he play any sports? Did he have acne?" She laughed again and had to stop walking because she was wheezing.

I groaned. "Stop, Thalia! His name was Luke and he played basketball."

"Luke who?"

"Castellan! Please, Thalia," I begged. "Are you done?"

She chuckled. "Not even, close, Annabeth. But I'll give you a break." Then she added, "For now."

We began walking again and lapsed into a comfortable silence.

 _Thalia POV_

I peered through our thick cover of bushes and shrubs at the Infected crowding around the decrepit convenience store, about a hundred yards away. There were nine, enough for Annabeth and I to take down together with ease. We saw a pack of water bottles through one of the windows, and since we didn't really trust the river water we had been drinking, Annabeth wanted to try to get it. She nudged me. "Hey," she whispered. "Do you have a plan?"

I snorted. "No. Why would I have a plan?"

She frowned. "You insult me, Thalia. What are you going to do, just charge in screaming bloody murder?"

My eyes flashed. "Sure," I said. Then I grabbed my knife and bow off the ground and jumped over the bush we were hiding behind. "Hey, zombies!" I shouted, waving the weapons around.

"Thalia!" Annabeth whisper-screamed. "What the hell?"

The Infected immediately began to lumber in our direction. "Hey, zombies!" I shouted again. "I'm just going to take a walk through your little shack, okay? Might take some stuff, not anything you would want." One of them let out a low moan. I turned to Annabeth. "See?' I asked. "They're perfectly fine with it."

She groaned. "I hate you, Pinecone Face."

"Love you too!" I said cheerily. "Now let's hurry before they get too close. I'll take those four in the front. Think you can handle the other five? I don't want to have to save you again."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay. I got them."

I smiled and went for the four Infected closest to me. I shot one before I even reached the little group, and then whacked one in the head with my bow. Maybe Annabeth actually was pretty smart to use it like a club. "Thalia!" Annabeth cried. "Behind you-" Before she could finish her sentence I spun around and stabbed The Infected that had come up behind me.

One of the other Infected tried to grab me, but I turned around and punched it in the face. Its eyes rolled back and it fell over. "Back off, punk," I said to it, even though it was either unconscious or dead (Infected are surprisingly fragile, considering their strength). Annabeth had just shot the last Infected she was fighting. "Maybe you misunderstood," I said to her. "You were supposed to fight that one, and I was-"

"I know Thalia! I'm so sorry!" she raked a hand through her wild golden curls. "It just turned around and went to you! Gosh, I really am sorry."

I sighed. "Let's just get the water, 'kay? There might be some other supplies in there, too. I, for one, am in a desperate need of tampons."

She laughed and we went looking around in the store. We got lucky- there were tampons, as well as some other toiletries like toothpaste. "I don't get it," Annabeth had said. "A lot of the important stuff is still here, but all of the alcoholic beverages are gone."

"Why?" I'd asked. "You want-"

"No!" she quickly said, almost shouted. I smirked. "It's just like people were all, 'Hey! The apocalypse has come! Someone grab the beer!'"

I laughed. "Well, get what you want and let's get out of here. We need to find a good tree to sleep in before dusk."

 _Percy POV_

I RAKED A HAND through my mop of black hair; absentmindedly wondering how long it had been since I had done it. Like, I brush every day or whatever, but that's as far as I ever went. I've been told that I look "dreamy", "dashing", and even "sexy" when I don't do my hair because it looks like a "bedhead" or some crap. Back before the Outbreak, this one chick took every chance she had to tell me. If you're wondering, her name was Drew and she's probably dead by now.

But hell, I don't know.

If that random thought disturbed you, sorry. I'm ADHD. But I really hope that didn't disturb you because it wasn't that disturbing.

Anyways, I was utterly exhausted in all but mind. That day, we had three attacks on the camp, and even one was unusual. But nope- the world hates me, and so three separate groups of Infected had shown up on the camp's borders at different times like, hey! Can we join the party?

Uh, no. I don't think so, zombies.

Then they're all, Aww, come one, Percy-boo!

No. Go away. Or else I'll kill you. On second thought, I'll probably just kill you anyways.

Aaaand, because I'm one of the camp's leaders, I was had to go fight all three attacks. I shouldn't be complaining, though; some of the guys (and girls) got a lot worse injuries than I did. Actually, that's where I'm going right now- to visit an injured friend of mine at the infirmary

Now, the word "infirmary" implies a nice, if outdated, medical facility. It's not. Our infirmary is more of an area that we've designated and marked with rocks where people go when they get hurt. The infirmary is actually a collection of houses on the beach up in Montauk, not a single building. We've made a ring of stones around the houses so that people know where it is.

When I got to the infirmary, I started asking around, wondering if anyone knew where my friend - Jason- was. Eventually, I found Will Solace, who happened to know where he was.

When I first started up this camp with a couple other people, it was the only camp in this area. Now it's still the only camp on Long Island, so people didn't really have a lot of options when figuring out where to go. Still, we were incredibly lucky that Will Solace joined.

Will was a student studying at some medical school or another when the Outbreak happened (I was zoning out when he told me, so I don't know what school it was. All I know is that it's in the New York area.) He drives the infirmary because hardly anyone else in the entire camp had any idea what to do with the injured people. We depend on him a lot, especially when there are attacks.

Will took me to the room where Jason was, then left. Jason was awake and lying on an old mattress. But I didn't know if he was okay mentally because he just stared at me. He had a nasty bite mark on his upper arm and scratches all over his chest, so I assumed he was not okay physically, either.

"Do you hear that?" I asked him quietly.

He blinked and looked around. "What is it?."

"Well," I said, "That's just the sound of me being more fabulous than you!" **(A/N: Persassy!)**

A smile appeared on his face, twisting the scar on his upper lip. "Good. I thought it was a fire that I assumed you had started. Wouldn't want to damage your ego, would we?"

I raised an eyebrow. "It was the fire of my hotness." He laughed. " How are you feeling?"

"Like I have scratches everywhere. And a bite out of my arm."

"You do."

"Ah. That explains the strange burning sensation I feel."

"Well, glad to know you're oka-"

Grover Underwood, another one of my friends, burst into the room. "Percy," he gasped. "There are people at the border."

I shot up and dragged a hand through my hair. "How many? Are they safe?" We didn't get a lot of new people now; not this far into the hellhole that we call "Earth".

"Two girls. They seem fine, but I couldn't really tell how far away I was."

I took a moment to process the information. Three months ago, I called my cousin Thalia and told her to come to the camp. I'd figured she was dead. Maybe one of them's Thalia, I thought. Then: No. She probably is dead. Don't get your hopes up, Jackson.

Still, I was anxious to see who the girls were. "Could you tell how old they were?"

"Why?" Jason put in. "Want to know if they're dating material?"

"Shut up," I snapped. "Grover?"

"They look like they're about sixteen," he said. "I'm not sure, though."

"Hey!" Jason piped. He was really starting to get on my nerves. I probably would have knocked him unconscious if he was completely healthy. But alas, he was not in a stable physical condition. "You're seventeen, Perce! You can date one of them! Or both, if you prefer." **(A/N I love Jason with an attitude!)**

I turned around so that he could see the entirety of my glare. "I said shut up, Jason."

"Whatever, Perce." Then he frowned and said, "You can't get everything you want by bullying." in a little kid's voice.

I smirked. "Watch me, Grace."

Grover sighed. "Please, can we just go see who they are? We might need to help them once they get to camp."

"Okay. Lead the way, G-man."

Grover led me out of the infirmary and we wove through the collection of tents and huts where people lived. We're really lucky that the Outbreak happened during late May; it's been summer this whole time. I have no idea what we're going to do when winter comes.

Finally, Grover and I got to the gate in a wall we had erected around the entire camp. It was made out of sharpened stakes, as a sort of last-resort defense system against any attacking Infected. The poles were driven into the sand (or dirt, in some cases. It depends on where on the border we're talking about.) Most of the camp was on the beach, but some of it were in the forest-ey area around it, too.

What I saw made my heart sink right down into my shoes.

Neither of the girls was Thalia. One of them, a tan girl with choppy brown hair, was dragging another girl with fiery red hair behind her. The latter appeared to be injured and unconscious. I grunted. "Uh, it looks like they do need our help."

Grover began to make his way towards the brown-haired girl, and I followed suit. "Hey," she said. "Um, can you help me with her? I just saw her lying unconscious on my way over here."

Grover looked to me for approval. "Sure," I said. I walked around the girl and picked Miss Unconscious up, bridal-style. "What's your name?"

She frowned at the unconscious girl in my arms. "Piper. What's yours?"

"Percy. And this moron is Grover." I said, gesturing at the said moron.

"Hey!" Grover protested.

I smirked. "G-man, can you help Piper? I'll take this one-" I hefted Miss Unconscious- "...to the infirmary."

"Yeah. Follow me, Piper. This is the North Entrance, that's where everyone lives, this is where we eat..." he walked away with Piper and began pointing things out to her. I sighed and would've started fiddling with my hair if I wasn't holding an unconscious teenaged girl, who just happened to be rather heavy

Not that it was hard to carry her. I'm pretty fit (wink wink.)

When I got to the infirmary, I found an empty room for her to rest in, then sat down next to her bed and used this chance to study her. Strangely enough, she looked fine. The girl's face was adorned with a spray of light freckles across her nose and cheeks, and she had a head full of vibrant red hair. I still didn't know why she was unconscious, though. Maybe she was knocked out? Did she pass out from exhaustion? Who knows, anyways?

Eventually, I gave up on my hypothesizing and looked around the little room. The afternoon sun reflected off of the girl's hair, making it blaze like strands of a scarlet flame. It framed her face brilliantly, making the freckles on her nose gleam like someone had tossed mica powder on her face.

Then I sighed, wondering where the cheezy outburst had come from.

Get a hold of yourself, Jackson.

I shook out my head to clear my thoughts, then closed my eyes and fell into a shallow, dreamless sleep.

Still Percy POV

I was pulled out of my evening nap by a girl's voice saying, "Um, excuse me, but who the hell are you and where the hell am I?"

Not exactly the nicest way to wake up, in my opinion.

I pulled myself into a fully upright position and opened my eyes. It was dark, but the moon's light illuminated the room like a silver lamp, casting an eerie glow over everything. I looked up at the redhead on the bed; she didn't look quite to stunning in the moonlight as she did in the sunlight. Nor did she look stunning with the angry frown on her face.

My mouth was dry, so I licked my lips. "Uh, I'm Percy. This is the camp on Long Island. I assume you've heard of it?"

Her face softened. "Yeah, I have."

She just sat there, staring trancelike out of the window. Her reaction to what I'd told her about being in the camp, or lack thereof, bothered me. "What's you name?" I inquired.

Her eyes seemed to jerk away from the window, and they met mine. She had startlingly green eyes. Is there anything normal about this girl? I wondered. "Rachel," she finally said. "Rachel Elizabeth O'Dare."

 **There we go! I hope you liked Pery's POV because that was my favorite to write. But this story's main character is Annabeth, so I'll try to keep it mostly in her POV. I might start another story about Percy, though, just because it's so much fun to write him. Same with Thalia. What do you think? Tell me in the comments!**

 **Also, Percy and Annabeth _will_ meet and there will be Percabeth- or will it be Perachel? _I_ don't even know yet! Anyways, tell me any future POVs or characters you want in the story and I'll try to make it happen. Thanks again for reading!**


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